Venturing into the gift shop, I discovered all four volumes of Marvel Comics Epic Battles of the Civil War. I can't remember what I paid for them. I'm sure they were priced at full retail value. But since the money would go to support our local museum, I thought what the heck.

Each volume appears to present a decent overview of the events leading up to a particular battle, the course of the battle itself, the aftermath and short biographies of a handful of key leaders.

I say "appears to present a decent overview" because I must admit my knowledge of the ACW is as extensive as many of my wargaming buddies. But these are, in fact comic books, which are ideal for introducing young readers to the subject of the Civil War.

The illustrations in each volume varies, because different artists were involved in this project. Overall, I found the art added to the sense of drama as the battle unfolds to its climax. If I had to choose, I liked the artwork in Volume 3: Antietam the best. The colors used were darker, giving a better sense of the dreary field conditions soldiers experienced.

True, there are extensive works by eminent historians that cover each battle in great detail. However, for a quick read, which includes "eye candy" almost as good as painted miniatures on modelled terrain, Marvel Comics Epic Battles of the Civil War, is worth the modest price for each booklet.

Monday, September 29, 2014

A few weekends ago, four of us got together to play Twilight Imperium. My friend Joe & I played it a couple times before: The last time being a 3-player session with Dallas, who couldn't make this time around. Newcomers to "The Galactic Council" were: Jason and Ken.

Since our Twilight Triumvirate game, I re-read the rules a third time in order to avoid our previous errors. But during the set up, Joe discovered we did the Public Objective Cards wrong. These cards, which help players earn victory points, are suppose to be laid out as they become available due to political action. The first player who can claim it, along with spending the necessary resources, gets the points. In our last game, the cards were handed to the player who initiated the political action.

One of the great features of Twilight Imperium is the random set-up. From the map, to the Political Action Cards, to the races themselves, it's guaranteed that no two games will be alike.

Here's a pictorial history of how the Yssaril, Humans, Saar and Winnu carved-up the galaxy among them...

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The Winnu invasion force is repulsed at New Albion, while the troops landing on Starpoint succumb to some form of biohazard.

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The Yssaril peacefully annexes Garbozia, but the inhabitants of Saudor put up a fight.

While the Yssaril conduct mop-up operations on Saudor, the Saar annex Belatrix and gain control of the trading post Tsion.

Federation troops stumble across a lost colony of Lazax, the former overlords of the galaxy, believed to be extinct. This discovery gives Federation Councilors a significant amount of clout in the Galactic Council.

The Yssaril discovered additional wealth on Primor.

Lodor, along with the nearby wormhole is annexed by the Yssaril.

The Federation advances on Tar'Mann. Meanwhile, the Winnu are still mustering-up a task force to reclaim New Albion and Starpoint.

Vespin-II (I think) is annexed by the Yssaril.

The Winnu finally mobilize and acquire Gral and it's wealth, but discover lethal doses of radiation on Centauri.

The Saar gain new wealth on Hope's End along with the planet's extensive shock troop training facility.

Vega Minor is peacefully annexed by the Federation, but the inhabitants of nearby Vega Major put up a fight.

Vega Major is captured by the Federation.

The Saar advance on Arinam and Meer, but are unable to initiate an invasion due to command & control, as well as logistical issues. A task force remains on station at Wormhole Alpha, which leads to Lodor--in Yssaril territory.

A Yssaril cruiser enters the Lesab System, and remains in orbit.

A Yssaril carrier group plunges down the Cormund Gravity Rift, to find a hostile reception.

The Federation make another anthropological discovery. This time a lost colony of Humans.

Thanks to conducting a fighter reconnaissance, the Saar task force directs the bulk of its troops against Meer. Arinam is annexed without incident, however, Meer proves to be a tough nut to crack.

The entire Saar invasion force is defeated by the Meerians.

While the Saar lick their wounds, the Winnu seize El'Nath, but of course, not without a fight.

Meer is finally subdued by a second Saar invasion force.

Not wanting to provoke the Winnu, the Saar remain at Hope's End, raising shock troops, while the Winnu subdue the Centaurians.

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A Federation dreadnought task force moves out of the Sol System.

Another Sol task force discovers Wellon to be the terminus of Wormhole Beta, the galaxy's shortest--and most useless--wormhole.

The Winnu return to New Albion and Starpoint. New Albion is invaded while Starpoint is cleansed of bio-toxins.

The Yssaril cede Lesab to the Saar, which is peacefully annexed.

At this point, only Mecatol Rex remained unclaimed. The stage was now set for a galactic-wide conflict.

End Notes:

We had to end our game at this point, which took an hour to set up and five hours to play. Fighting only occurred between the space-faring races and the indigenous forces resisting invasion. Although interplanetary war would have broken out if we had the time to play even just one more turn.

Applying the rules properly slowed things down a bit in terms of how many actions a player can take per turn and how much he can produce. This can be frustrating at times, but it does provide players with a steady game pace, a less cluttered game board, and an increased awareness of using political and economic power to gain victory points.

Twilight Imperium is not for anyone who likes their games fast & bloody.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

This past Saturday, I invited myself was invited to the monthly gathering of the Seattle Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers group (SF2W). Actually, I've been receiving newsletters for the past several months, but haven't been able to attend until now.

She's on a quest to "improve the lives of those around her," while he struggles to keep the business afloat.

Yeah, you guessed it, conflict ensues.

(An Emma Approved version of American Gothic?)

Oh, Emma means well, and her grandiose schemes are successful--for the most part. But, more often than not, Emma leaves hard feelings and heartache in her wake, because she's blind to the obvious.

I enjoyed the series, and from the comments I read on YouTube, the other viewers did too, and looked forward to each new episode. Emma Approved seemed to be a rebound from Pemberly Digital's LBD spin-off Welcome to Sanditon.

Studio Spin-Offs

About the Director

I'm a retired USAF TACP (Tactical Air Control Party) member, now working for Washington State Emergency Management. In addition to being an Emergency Operations Specialist at my day/night/weekend job, I'm a Foreign Affairs Specialist, gamer and writer.
I maintain three blogs as an on-line platform. "Stern Rake Studio," my central site, explores a variety of topics on gaming, pop-culture and writing. "Station WTFO" is where I post comments and discussions on the national and international issues that concern us. Finally, "The Redshift Chronicles," is a spin-off of "Stern Rake Studio." This site focuses on sci-fi gaming and is home to my long-form webcomic "Breakout from Bongolaan."